The Players’ Aid

The Japanese are terrorizing the Chinese countryside and have control of nearly all of the Lines of Communication. This will cause great alarm amongst the insurgent factions as the Japanese are currently in a winning position. China’s War: 1937-1941 from @gmtgames.bsky.social

Final game of the day here at Buckeye Game Fest is China’s War: 1937-1941 from @gmtgames.bsky.social

Alexander’s Yippies/Mobe coalition won the exposure battle in Chicago ‘68 from The Dietz Foundation. Very tight game though that came down to the last few card plays. What a great area control/area influence political style tug of war. Loved it!

2nd game of day 2 here at Buckeye Game Fest is Chicago ‘68 from The Dietz Foundation.

1st game of day 2 here at Buckeye Game Fest is To Take Washington: Jubal Early’s Summer 1864 Campaign from Multi-Man Publishing with our new friend Leslie.

Buckeye Game Fest 2026 Daily Debrief Series – Day 1 We arrived safely on Tuesday afternoon at around 4:00pm and got checked in, unpacked, organized and off to the War Room to get setup and see what was happening. The War Room is back in its ori…

The 1st day at Buckeye Game Fest was a success and saw us getting in parts of 2 different games including Danger Forward: The Battle of Gela, July 1943 from Multi-Man Publishing and Blind Swords Volume 12: Gettysburg: The First Day from Revolution Games. theplayersaid.com/2026/03/10/b...

This big ass box arrived today (literally 45 minutes after we left for Buckeye Game Fest and it’s massive. Imperial Borders from Nightingale Games designed by Larry Harris. Really looking forward to playing this with a large group!

Next game up here at Buckeye Game Fest is Blind Swords Volume 12: Gettysburg: The First Day from Revolution Games. We are playing the Barlow’s Folly scenario which is a smaller 7-turn affair.

Buckeye Game Fest 2026 Daily Debrief Series Introduction Good morning our faithful readers! As this post uploads this morning, we will be traveling to beautiful Columbus, Ohio to attend the best little game convention in the Midwest called Buckeye Game F…

For the next 4 1/2 days we will be attending Buckeye Game Fest here in Columbus, Ohio. Look for my nightly Daily Debrief Series on the blog to catch up on the great games we are playing. theplayersaid.com/2026/03/10/b...

1st game of Buckeye Game Fest is Danger Forward: The Battle of Gela, July 1943 from Multi-Man Publishing which is found in Battalion S3 Operations and Training Magazine Issue #1.

Interview with Carlos Oliveras Designer of Punicus: The Second Punic War from GMT Games While I have not played a bunch of games focused on the Punic War, the few that I have played are very good and I am always interested in a good Ancients combat game. Last fall, GMT Games announced…

Our interview with Carlos Oliveras designer of Punicus: The Second Punic War from GMT Games. theplayersaid.com/2026/03/09/i...

A bit of solitaire wargaming this evening. Black Skin Black Shirt: Ethiopia vs. Fascist Italy 1935-1937 from White Dog Games.

My Favorite Wargame Cards – A Look at Individual Cards from My Favorite Games – Card #68: Usurper Emperor from Barbarians at the Gates, The Decline and Fall of the Western Roman Empire 337 – 476 from ... With this My Favorite Wargame Cards Series, I hope to take a look at a specific card from the various wargames that I have played and share how it is used in the game. I am not a strategist and fra…

My Favorite Wargame Cards – A Look at Individual Cards from My Favorite Games – Card #68: Usurper Emperor from Barbarians at the Gates, The Decline and Fall of the Western Roman Empire 337 – 476 from Compass Games. theplayersaid.com/2026/03/05/m...

He was very good.

First Impressions: BCS Inflection Point: The Battle for Kalach and the Battle of Chir from Multi-Man Publishing Over the past couple years, we have played a few venerated and respected series games from Multi-Man Publishing for the first time that frankly I had initially turned my nose up at for various reas…

Grant shares his First Impression thoughts on the new BCS Inflection Point: The Battle for Kalach and the Battle of Chir from Multi-Man Publishing. theplayersaid.com/2026/03/04/f...

Interview with Paolo Mori and Alessandro Zucchini Designers of Battlefields of the Napoleonic Wars Ingenioso Hidalgo A new company on the scene recently is Ingenioso Hidalgo which was created by Paolo Mori. Yes, that Paolo Mori who has designed such interesting little wargames as Blitzkrieg! World War II in 20 Mi…

Our interview with Paolo Mori and Alessandro Zucchini designers of Battlefields of the Napoleonic Wars Ingenioso Hidalgo. theplayersaid.com/2026/03/03/i...

Wargame Watch – What’s New & Upcoming – March 2026 I am very tired of the cold and dreary days of winter. I want it to be warm soon but we are realistically a few months away from consistently nice weather. But, this month, even though the weather …

The March edition of Wargame Watch sponsored by Bellica Third Generation is up and contains games from great publishers including Compass Games, Multi-Man Publishing, GMT Games, PHALANX, Neva Game Press, Fellowship of Simulations and many more! theplayersaid.com/2026/03/02/w...

I’m a bit behind but these games from GMT Games showed up on Saturday afternoon. Infernal Machine, Purgatorio and Mr. President Update Kit.

Unboxing Video: New Cold War: 1989-2019 from VUCA Simulations New Cold War: 1989-2019 is a Card-Driven Game based in the most important geopolitical events from 1989 to 2019. Players lead one of the four great powers (Russia, China, US, EU) in their fight for…

Our unboxing video for New Cold War: 1989-2019 from @vucasimulations.bsky.social theplayersaid.com/2026/03/01/u...

We just had the best February in our 10-year life as The Players’ Aid! The blog had 68,354 views, 37,735 visitors, 158 likes and 40 comments. Thanks to all who stopped by to read our stuff and for your undying support!

Also played the newest release from Bellica Third Generation called An Impossible War and it was very good. Thanks to Francisco and his wife Reyes from cooling down from Chicago to play.

Got the opportunity to play Castelnuovo 1539 from DracoIdeas this morning with the designer Francisco Ronco. What a fantastic, interactive and fun experience this was. Francisco’s Spanish defender the city and caused significant losses to my Ottomans.

Unboxing Video: Time of Wars: Eastern Europe 1590-1660 from Strategamata Time of Wars: Eastern Europe 1590-1660 is a card-driven multiplayer game in which players assume the roles of rulers of five superpowers in Eastern Europe – the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth…

Our unboxing video for Time of Wars: Eastern Europe 1590-1660 from Strategamata. theplayersaid.com/2026/02/28/u...

We broke out The Republic’s Struggle from NAC Wargames. It’s Twilight Struggle Spanish Civil War edition. Beautiful game!

La Der des Ders – The War to End War from Hexasim – Action Point 3 La Der des Ders – The War to End War from Hexasim is a 1-2 player slightly abstracted strategic level look at World War I. The game allows the players to relive the First World War at a strate…

In a continuing series covering the strategic level WWI game La Der des Ders - The War to End War from Hexasim, in Action Point 3 we cover the Event Cards and how they inject the historical narrative into the gameplay. theplayersaid.com/2026/02/26/l...

January 2026 Monthly Debrief Video – The Lord of the Rings The January 2026 Monthly Debrief Video, which is the 1st episode in Season 6 of this series, saw us discussing the games of The Lord of Rings. We both love the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien and The Lo…

The January 2026 Monthly Debrief Video sponsored by Noble Knight Games is up and sees us discussing The games of The Lord of the Rings. Wargames. theplayersaid.com/2026/02/25/j...

This arrived today. Battle of the Bismarck Sea from War Diary Publications, which is a solitaire wargame that uses individual ships and flights/squadrons of aircraft with the mission of intercepting the Japanese effort to reinforce its ground forces on the island of New Guinea.

My Favorite Wargame Cards – A Look at Individual Cards from My Favorite Games – Card #67: Frederick Douglas from Votes for Women from Fort Circle Games With this new My Favorite Wargame Cards Series, I hope to take a look at a specific card from the various wargames that I have played and share how it is used in the game. I am not a strategist and…

My Favorite Wargame Cards – A Look at Individual Cards from My Favorite Games – Card #67: Frederick Douglas from Votes for Women from @fortcircle.bsky.social theplayersaid.com/2026/02/24/m...

Interview with Russell Brown Designer of Checkpoint Charlie from GMT Games I love a different style and focus of wargame. A game that takes a look at an important but somewhat obscure or rarely addressed topic such as espionage or intelligence. And this past month, GMT Ga…

Our interview with Russell Brown designer of Checkpoint Charlie from @gmtgames.bsky.social theplayersaid.com/2026/02/23/i...

Just pre-ordered this beauty! Trying Men’s Souls from Against the Odds Magazine. AmRev gaming goodness!